Driving mechanism for engine accessories



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H. A. GEHRES DRIVING MECHANISM FOR ENGINE ACCESSORIES I Filed Aug. 2.192% J nLLLiLl II [III Elvweniio W-X. $1 @flbtom N I HQ A. GEHRES IDRIVING MECHANISM FOR ENGINE ACCESSORIES Filed Aug. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheetawuwntoz Patented Oct. 16, 1928.

UNITED STATES reste .HEWTTT A. QEHRES, OF IMTOUN'I. VERNON, OHIQ.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR ENGINE ACCESSORIES.

Application filed August 2, 1922. Serial No.,579,107.

The invention relates to engines of the type employing rotary crankstructures to.

transfer the reciprocatory motion of the pistons into rotary motion, andwherein the rotary motion of such crank structure is utilized to driveaccessory devices which are associated 'with the engine.

One object oft he invention is to provide a driving mechanism of theabove nature which will enable the lay shaft or valve ac- 'tuatingshaft: of the engine'to be actuated by the movement'of the crankstructure.

Another object is to provide a crank-actuated driving mechanism whichwill be self adjusting as regards accommodation to the various changesin position which may take place between the driving and the drivenelements of such device.

The invention also aims to enable engine accessories such as anindicator reducing motion, an oil pump, or both to be driven from thecrank structure by a mechanism which will avoid as faraspossiblecomplicated parts or numerous elements, to the end that suchdriving mechanism may be simple and direct in its action.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obviousand in part specifically pointed out in the descri 9- tion hereinaftercontained, which, taken 1n connection with the accompanying drawings,discloses a preferred. embodiment thereof: such embodiment, however, isto be conside-red as merelyillustrative of its'principle. Inthedrawings: r

'Fig. 1 is aplan view of a driving mechanism constructed in accordancewith the invention, the cover of the housing for such mechanism beingremoved to expose its interio'r elements. r Fig. 2 is-a'sid'eelevationof the apparatus shown in Fig; 1, certain ofthe part-s at the crank pinend of the mechanism being shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the driving mechanism in operativerelation to the associated parts of the engine.

Fig. 4 isa sectional view taken on line of Fig; 1 looking in thedirection of the arrows.

An important object of the present in vention is to enable. thevalve-actuating shaft, or lay-shaft, of agas engine or steam engine tobe driven in proper timed. relation to theweycle'of-f the engine, by amechanism which will be as simple as possibleand capable of beingreadily installed without involving extensive alterations of ioradditions to the fundamental structure of the engine.- a c In accordancewith this invention, the motion of the crankstructure is relied upon todrive the valvenctuating shaft, the illustrated embodiment of theinvention being applied to an engine having acrank pin 1 mounted upon athrow arm 2, which parts i and their associated engine structure willnot be described in further detail, since they may be understood as ofany suitable type.

' The valves of the engine are actuated by means of a shaft 3 whichextends longitudinally from the cylinder structure of the *is providedwith bearing means tor guiding engine (not illustrated) to the region ofthe crank structure; inthe present embodlment the same to turn aboutacentre substantially in line with the centre of rotationof thecranlcstructure. The rotary movement of the crank 6 is thensuitably'transmitted to the shaft 3, preferably by means of across shaft7 disposed. substantially in line with the centre of the circle ofrotation of the crank structure, and "driven by the drag crank-6; in thepresent instance engagingbevel gears 8 and 9 are mounted respectively onthe shafts 7 and 3cforthe purpose of turning the latter. I

-The above described parts may be advantageously mountedwithin a housing10 provided with inner and outer bearings 11 and 12 respectively, forthe cross shaft 7, and a further bearing 13 for the valve-ac tuatingshaft 3. The housinglO also preterably is suitably secured to. theadjacent portion 14:1(Fig. 2) of the engine frame, thus stantially incorrect position with regard to the associated parts of theengine, whenthe housing .10 is secured in place. As shown, a cover 15 i (Fig. ,2).is associated with the housserving to fix the driving mechanism suba ing10 to provide a complete enclosure for the gears 8 and 9, and adjacentparts.

Since the crank 1 rotates in timed rela tion to the motion of the enginepiston or pistons, the valve-actuating shaft 3 will be ranged toaccommodate itself to relative endwise motion between the crossshaft 7and the crank structure of the engine, such as might take place,forexample, if the rotation of the crank shaft shouldbe accompanied by aslight back and forth motion, and to accomplish this, certain of themembers 4, 6 and 7 previously described, are slidably mounted; in thepresent embodiment, the crank pin engaging member 4 is slidably receivedwithin a crank pin collar 16 (Fig. 2), and the drag crank6 is fixedlysecured to the inner end of cross shaft 7 as by means of bolts 17extending between the drag crank and a flanged collar 18 secured toshaft 7. Thus any endwise motion between the crank structure andcrossshaft 7 is taken up between the members 4 and 16, without imposingstrains upon the driving mechanism.-

The driving mechanism, furthermore, preferably is provided with a simpleadjustment'to compensate for other displacements which may take placebetween the crank structure and the cross shaft v7. As illustrated, thedrag crank 6 is engaged with member 1 through the medium of a ball jointconsisting of a socket member 19 (Fig. 2) associated with member 1 andprovided with a cap 20, enclosing a ball 21 having a recess 22 whichreceives slidably the outer end of drag crank 6; thus, if crank pin: 1does not rotate in a circle truly concentrio with shaft 7, the dragcrank may slide in and out with regard to ball 21, the latter alsoacting to adjust itself automatically to any misalinement between thecrank structure and shaft 7, by moving angularly relatively to thesocket member 19. Although, in the present embodiment of the invention,the elements 20 and 21 of the'joint above mentioned are" of sphericalshape, this'shape is not essential, and the term ball joint is to beunderstood as not limited to spherical parts, but as embracing any jointwhich will permit a certain amount of angular motion as above described,between the crank6 and k cator actuating device, and, an auxiliary oilpump '(notillustrated) for an oil reservoir associated with the engineframe beneath the crank structure.

In thepresent form of the invention, an eccentric 24f carrying a strap25, is mounted upon cross shaft 7 between collar 18 and bearing 11, abell crank lever 26' being pivoted at one end to the strap 25 and filXedat its other'end to an indicator actuating spindle 27 suitably journaledin the housing 10, thus serving to oscillate spindle'27 in timedrelation tothe motion of the engine. As shown, an indicator drive arm isfixed to spindle 27, its upper end projecting into the. space normallycovered by the cap 29. (Fig. 2) mounted upon cover 15, whereby the arm28 is rendered accessible by the removal of such cap. The remaining arm30 of bellcrank lever 26 may be connected to anactuating rod.31 (Fig. 2)for the oil pump above referred to, as located in the oil basin-in theengine frame. The oil pump 23 may be driven from theeccentrio 24 bymeans of an actuating rod 32 pivoted 'to the eccentric strap 25.

The driving mechanismalso preferably is provided with means affordingproper lubrication for its several parts, particularly at the crank pinend. Tnthe present embodiment,'the shaft 7 is hollow and is fed with oilatitsfouter end from the cap 33 (Fig. 2) having a duct 34 extendingbetween the hollow of the shaft and a pipe '35 which con veys oil underpressure,for example, from pump 23 previously mentioned. The oil passesthrough shaft 7 and into a conduit 36 in drag crank 6, thus conveyingoil to the outer end of the drag crank where itlubricates the ball jointby means of ports 37 in the drag crank, and ports-38 in the ball 21. Thecrank pin engaging memberitis also made hollow to provide a conduit 39(Fig. 2) leading from the ball joint to the recess 5 in the crank pin,whereby, the oil may lubricatethe engaging surfaces of members ,4; and16, as well as the exterior surface of crank pin 1, by means of a duct40 in the crank pin. As shown, the bearings 11 and 13 arelubricated bymeans of oil basins 41 and 42 respectively, the oil basin 42also havingan oil conveying trough 43 (Fig.1) to carry oil scraped from the back ofgears 8 and 9, to oil basin 4C2. I

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described,it willbeobvious that many changes may be madetherein without departing fromits principle, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1'. A driving mechanism for engine accessories, comprising a crank pinengaging member, a ball and socket joint associated with said member, adragcrank slidablv connected to one element of said ball joint,

and a cross shaft substantially concentric with the circle of rotationof the crank pin;

make up a ball and socket joint, a drag crank provided with hearingmeans positioning the same to rotate in a circle substantial- 1yconcentric with the circle or rotation of the crank pin, said drag crankbeing slidably' connected ithsaid ball element.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set my handthis 29th day of July, 1922.

HEWITT A. GEHRES.

